 The year that was! by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT
2013 was indeed a stormy year for the telecomms industry, the highlight being the firing of the communications minister, Dina Pule, by President Zuma and the appointment of Yunus Carrim, Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, as her replacement... ( more) |
 In conversation with Evert Swanepoel
by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT
"Taking cash out of copper transactions will cut down on copper theft", said Evert Swanepoel, centre director, Copper Development Association Africa. "There is more to copper than it just being used to carry electricity or data signals... ( more)
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The nightmare of obsolescence in the component and other industries
Compiled by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT
Obsolescence can be a nightmare for electronic component suppliers as well as for the electronics manufacturing and allied industries. The electronics manufacturing industry has to honour guarantees and therefore needs to keep stock to support repairs for a period of time... ( more) |
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Q&A: Ask an expert
Answers by Selvan Murugan, Royal HaskoningDHV
Selvan Murugan answers questions on distributed control systems (DCS) selection, e.g. what are some of the important standards applicable to DCS systems? What should be evaluated when considering the DCS network architecture and hardware concepts?... ( more) |
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Braamfontein aims to be national digital hub
by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT
Prof. Barry Dwolatzky, director of the the Joburg Centre for Sofware Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand believes in the value of an attractive and vibrant digital technology hub in Braamfontein... ( more) |
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EngineerIT Inbox
This month's winning letter
The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) questions the Department of Basic Educatiion's decision on programming language teaching... (more) |
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Relevant IT: A solution to the divide between business and IT
by Chris Welham, Space Age Technologies
The business-IT divide has been spoken of and written about for a number of years. It exists in small, medium-sized and large organisations worldwide, and, as a result, investments made in IT in the past have not yielded the expected business value... (more)
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How IP has changed the world of communications
by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT
When the internet protocol (IP) debuted in 1974, it became possible to transmit voice signals as data packets over standard networks for the first time. This had dramatic implications for both computer and voice communication... ( more) |
Desert towers built to share adventure with the world
Information from MTN
This month marked a significant milestone in the development of The Bloodhound Project, the global education initiative focused around a 1600 km/h land speed record attempt: the completion of the desert towers which will beam video and data from the car to the outside world... ( more) |
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IP telephony: a revolution for structured cabling systems
by André Mouton and Julie Roy, NORDX/CDT, USA
In today's networking and cabling industry, the buzzword is IP telephony. Many see it as a major evolutionary step in telecommunications... ( more)
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Coast-to-coast fibre in Africa unleashes prosperity
by Dan Zajicek, Gilat Satcom
Just as crops need water to grow and flourish, modern economies require information to expand and prosper. Connecting millions of individuals in Africa with the global web of information empowers them to bring their talents and energies to grow economic prosperity for one and all...
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Assuring performance for the cloud
by Rui Godinho, SAAB Grintek
Cloud computing in South Africa is gaining rapid momentum which is evident with the large data centres being commissioned in the most recent years. The most recent data centre (being commissioned shortly) is for Hetzner South Africa... ( more) |
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Automation: where we are now and what awaits us tomorrow
Information from Festo
Automation has become less of a mystery within our society as we find more and more automated products in our daily lives. With this growing interest and desire for technology that makes our lives easier, and more automated, what are the future trends?... (more)
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To OEE or not to OEE, that is the question
by G Greeff, Bytes Universal Systems and K van der Merwe, Industrial Management Enhancement
The value of the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) metric for continuous process industries has increasingly come under the spotlight in recent times. Is OEE a valid metric for industries where process back-up and redundancy are part of the basic design and where clear constraints cannot be easily determined?... ( more) |
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Network monitoring and control for gas company
Information from Invensys Wonderware
Confronted with a decades-old system of network distribution monitoring and manual data collection, Egoli Gas saw the need to standardise and unify its systems to provide improved levels of operations and service delivery... ( more)
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100 G pluggable optics drive testing in new directions
by Dr. Paul Brooks, JDSU
With 100 G products now becoming a reality, client interfaces based on C form-factor pluggable (CFP) optics are appearing on routers, switches, and transport equipment... ( more)
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Measuring energy waste in buildings using thermography
by Jeanri Mellanby, Comtest
The achievement of savings in energy consumption is an imperative in South African as energy consumers ask what they can do to reduce their energy bills... ( more)
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Solar-powered LED lighting power-conversion techniques
by Stephen Stella, Microchip Technology
Performance improvements in light-emitting dioes (LEDs) and photovoltaic solar cells due to developments in technology improve the performance of the end-application... ( more) |
| Infrared technology for touchscreens
Information from Osram
Optical touchscreens benefit from compact high-power infrared LEDs: you can swipe, you can press, you can pinch and expand - touchscreens are the input media of the future... (more)
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Understanding primary battery technology
by Malcolm Southern, Just Batteries
The battery industry has not yet achieved the perfect battery or rather cell technology. In almost every choice there is always a compromise to be made when selecting the chemistry which best suits a specific application... (more)
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Amateur radio goes digital
by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT
Amateur radio has not lost its ability to innovate and move with the times. The first digital communications date back to the 1940s... (more)
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| Telecoms developments in Africa
Compiled by Matthew White
- Internet contributes US$18-billion to Africa's GDP
- Rwanda summit adopts "Smart Africa" manifesto
- Angola sets goal of 12-million mobile phone users by 2017
- Investment in ICT will reduce Africa's poverty, says ITU boss
- Ethiopian to confiscate US$13-m of equipment from Huawei
- Malawi's digital network ready by end November, says govt
- Telecom Namibia connects to German platform
- Nigeria sets tone for African telecoms regulators
- MTN Zambia boosts internet speed... (more)
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Gadgets4geeks
Compiled by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT
- A mouse with the ultimate grip
- Dell offers a choice of tablets
- Livescribe 3 smartpen - a companion to mobile devices
- App takes BBM to Samsung
- Hold DStv in your hand... (more)
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Views, Comment and Opinion
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